Sebastian Ruth
Sebastian Ruth is an American violinist, violist, and music educator, and a 2010 MacArthur Fellow, receiving the award for ""creating rewarding musical experiences for often-forgotten populations and forging a new, multifaceted role beyond the concert hall for the twenty-first-century musician."
He is the founder of Community MusicWorks in Providence, Rhode Island, which works with "disadvantaged inner-city kids, teaching them how to play string instruments".
In 2010, the program had 115 disadvantaged students, 51% Latino and 16% African-American.
Ruth's concept for Community MusicWorks "is to be as intrinsic to the fabric of a community as a clinic, library or church." Accordingly, the group "provides its students – who range from elementary to high school – with a long-term instrument loan, mentoring relationships with teachers, as well as opportunities through workshops and field trips."
Ruth is a 1997 graduate of Brown University and a faculty member at the Yale School of Music.
He also received a 2010 National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award from Michelle Obama.
In 2012, Strings Magazine listed him as among "the 25 most influential people in the string music world".
